NASA hopes to hijack an asteroid with a probe

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France 2

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C. Sinz, P.-Y. Salique, C. Ricco – France 2

France Televisions

On the night of Monday September 26 to Tuesday September 27, 2027, the DART probe, sent by NASA, should crash into an asteroid as a test. A first for NASA, which hopes to be ready when the situation requires it.

An asteroid hitting the earth. This is not a fictional scenario. A million years ago, these same asteroids wiped out the dinosaurs. More recently, in 2013, the shock wave from one of these space stones injured 1,600 people in Russia. NASA therefore sent the DART probe into space in order to train in the event of an emergency.

Sent 11 million kilometers from Earth, this probe will hit the asteroid at more than 500 km/h. The asteroid, which is not a threat to Earth, should therefore be deflected. The goal is to prevent this kind of eventuality. The impact will take place on the night of Monday September 26 to Tuesday September 27, 2027, around 1 a.m., and will be broadcast live by NASA. What to know a little more about these famous asteroids, still unknown. “We are going to discover the structure of the asteroid (…) Is it flat? Is there gravel?”asks Patrick Michel, astrophysicist.

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